• Officials from Scotland and the US revealed that Mr. Masud was in US custody.
• He is the first person charged with the attack on US soil.
• It continues to be the most deadly terrorist act on British territory.

No death penalty for Lockerbie bombing suspect as he appeared in a US court, a man accused of creating the bomb that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, 34 years ago.

The US claims that Abu Agila Masud was a member of the Libyan intelligence community and was instrumental in the 1988 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 270 people.

On Sunday, officials from Scotland and the US revealed that Mr. Masud was in US custody.

He is the first person charged with the attack on US soil.

The Boeing 747’s onboard bomb burst, killing 243 passengers, six crew members, and 11 locals on the ground, including a family of four, as the plane flew over the English-Scottish border.

There were 190 Americans and 43 Britons among the fatalities, who were nationals of 21 different nations.

It continues to be the most deadly terrorist act to have occurred on British territory.

US Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather made the decision to postpone the official reading of the charges until after Mr. Masud has retained counsel for his trial at Monday’s hearing. He didn’t make a defence.
He gave his entire name to the judge, who then informed him that a translator was available to translate the proceedings into Arabic for him. He had to stay behind bars at least until a detention hearing on December 27.

In addition to other allegations, Mr. Masud is accused of destroying an aeroplane that caused a fatality. At the hearing on Monday, the prosecution stated that while they would not pursue the death penalty, Mr. Masud may receive a life sentence if found guilty.

He staggered into court wearing a teal prison jumpsuit and a surgical mask over his white beard.

He interrupted the court as she read the three counts, saying in Arabic, “I can’t talk until I’ve spoken to my attorney.”

Having turned down the public defender’s office’s offer of free legal representation, Mr. Masud is now seeking legal representation, which the judge declared to be his right.
Some of the victims’ families were present in court; they already revealed their anxiety to the Sources. As the hearing began, they sat motionless.

He could receive a life sentence in prison, the death penalty, or a fine of up to $250,000 (£203,000) for each charge.

However, US prosecutors informed the court that they will not seek the death penalty because they feel it was not an option under the law at the time of his alleged crime.

In December 2020, the US justice department first declared that Mr. Masud will face charges. At the time, US prosecutors asserted that he had served in a variety of capacities for Libyan intelligence between 1973 and 2011, including as an expert in explosives.

The prosecution’s case against Mr. Masud is based in part on an interview he gave to Libyan authorities in 2012 after being detained in the wake of Muammar Gaddafi’s demise. He acknowledged creating the attack’s bomb and programming its timer to detonate while the aeroplane was in flight during the interview. Furthermore, according to Mr. Masud, Gaddafi commended him and two other conspirators “for their successful strike” on the US.

Many commentators have expressed worry that the confession might have been forced during the turbulent months after the fall of the dictatorship, when Libya lacked a fully functional legal system.
Victoria Cummock, whose husband John perished in the explosion, described the US prosecution as a “huge milestone” for the relatives of the victims at a news conference on Monday.

After what she called a “decades-long miscarriage of justice,” she continued by saying that the arrest of Mr. Masud was the “first tangible step” taken by US authorities to hold anyone accountable for the attack.

How Mr. Masud ended up in US custody is still a mystery. He was said to have been abducted in Tripoli by armed militia members in late November.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, another co-conspirator named by US and Scottish officials, was found guilty of participating in the attack in 2001 by a Scottish court held in the Netherlands. He was compassionately freed by the Scottish government in 2009, and three years later he passed away in Libya.

Megrahi, who consistently maintained his innocence, is the only individual to have been found guilty in relation to the attack to yet.
The most senior Scottish lawyer in the country, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain of Scotland, announced in a statement that she will visit Washington, DC, the following week to meet with prosecutors and join the relatives of the victims for commemorative activities.

She said in a statement on Monday that Scottish authorities had welcomed the American investigation and dubbed the US prosecution of Mr. Masud a “legal breakthrough.”

The quest of justice must be time-limited, Ms. Bain added, citing the most recent developments.

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